1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of dishwashers and, more particularly, to a dampened pump assembly for a dishwasher.
2. Description of the Related Art
Certainly, it is desirable to produce a dishwasher which is quiet in operation. To this end, it is known in the art of dishwashers to utilize insulation and other barriers to reduce low frequency noises generated during the operation of motors for fluid recirculation and drain pumps. It is also known to attach freely oscillating mass components to a motor via elastic linkage components for damping the vibrations of the motor, such as discussed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0055410. Such oscillating mass components need to be tuned to a specific resonant frequency corresponding to specific motor vibrations. Initially, such an arrangement is quite effective but, in addition to being rather complicated and expensive to produce, generally requires re-tuning over time to remain effective. There also exist other solutions to noise reduction, with these solutions having varying levels of success in the reduction of noises emanating from dishwashers due to the operation of fluid pumps and drain motors. Regardless, there is still seen to be a need for an extremely cost effective, robust and efficient noise reduction arrangement for a dishwasher.